Caius D'Onofrio (poweroftheeye) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2019-06-11 08:09:00 |
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Entry tags: | #december 2017, caius, caius x reagan, reagan |
Who: Reagan and Caius
When: Evening, Thursday, Dec 21st, before Zania's party
Where: Home
Status: complete
Reagan went back and forth on wanting to attend Nic and Zania’s Christmas party. A part of her wanted to go because she was friends with Nic and she was curious as to who else would be there. She and Zania were on okay ground, though Reagan couldn’t exactly say they were friends. But things were also tense between Zania and Caius for whatever reason and that might be an uncomfortable situation… but also one that might actually amuse her, given the fact that she had despised every aspect of their non-relationship since… was it high school? College? Maybe it was progress that couldn’t remember how long she had been holding a grudge. Or maybe she had just had too much wine already.
Spending an evening with other witches put her on edge. Sometimes just being around Caius managed to do that. Reagan didn’t resent him by any means, but it was becoming increasingly difficult knowing he could still do everything she couldn’t. And she couldn’t feel his magic anymore than she could feel her own. It was painful and the pain was start to sink deeper and deeper into her bones.
She didn’t dress up, because this was Zania and Nic Castell they were talking about, but she wore a dark red dress with black leggings and a black cardigan. She hadn’t put her shoes on yet, but sat on the couch, her feet crossed on top of the coffee table in front of her. There was a glass of red wine in her hand that she was sipping from, waiting for Caius. She was struggling with an excuse not to go although she was sure he wouldn’t care if she just said she didn’t want to go. But maybe it would be good to go. No doubt Zania would have hard liquor.
Reagan knocked back the rest of the wine in two swallows and moved to stand so she could get a little more before they had to leave. At least wine helped numb the angrier parts of her that kept threatening to surface.
Caius had let Reagan shower first while he took care of a work call, so he was behind on getting ready for the party at the Castells’. He mostly didn’t want to go, but he knew it was important to keep Reagan social, out and doing things that weren’t work. He was worried for her. Caius had never seen her slip into a depression over anything, not really, but he knew she was under unimaginable strain. Some fun might do her good, if she could stand the company. He still wasn’t exactly sure what Zania’s beef with him was about, but she’d extended the invitation, and it would be in bad form to refuse.
So, he took a shower and shaved and put on some dark gray slacks that hugged his thighs and a thin black sweater. He looked more like he was going to a funeral than a Christmas party, but bright, festive colors had never really been Caius’s thing. He never really got into the Christmas spirit anyway, it was a holiday stolen from the pagans for conquest reasons and then twisted in modern times to just generate revenue and force people into awkward social situations. But Reagan had said she wanted to go, so Caius was going.
He walked downstairs carrying his shoes, and found his wife exiting the kitchen with more wine in her glass. Caius felt another flicker of concern over how much she was drinking lately, but there was no way in hell he was going to say anything to her about it. “Almost ready?” he asked instead, leaning in to brush a kiss against her lips.
Reagan straightened a touch when she saw Caius and she gave him a perfunctory kiss in return before reaching out to touch his sweater. It was soft and he looked handsome in it. He looked ready to go, but was she? "No," Reagan said before sighing. "I mean, yes, I suppose so. Let me just finish." She motioned to her wine glass. "It never hurts to be a bottle in before going to a party. You look nice, but I think you should really add something like a Santa hat, or elf ears. Get into the spirit," Reagan said with a small smirk on her lips. "You look like you're going to a funeral... or church."
Caius expression turned to distaste at the mention of church. He’d never been, except for some weddings and funerals, but it seemed dreadful. “You’re more than one bottle in if you think I’m putting on a Santa hat,” he grumbled, though it was half-hearted. He knew he ought to be more festive, but honestly he just didn’t have the energy to try. Caius was fairly exhausted these days, exploring dead end after dead end, trying to get Reagan’s magic back. He was going to try to have fun at this thing, but he was already looking forward to crawling back into bed with his wife. Resting his free hand on Reagan’s hip, he side nodded toward the living room. “I’m going to grab one too, I’ll join you in a minute.”
Reagan nodded, giving his black sweater a gentle tug before she let go of him to head back toward the couch. She didn't mind being fashionably late to a party, especially if it meant getting to finish her wine. Reagan had the thought that she ought to buy Caius a Santa hat and make him wear it on Monday. At least in private. He might roll his eyes but she would at least be entertained by it. She sat down and tried to rally. Going to a party morose and restless would be horrible and no one wanted to be around someone like that. Caius was doing his best in trying to help her but Reagan was sinking into an ocean of defeat, which she understood was very uncharacteristic of her. Usually she was determined and stubborn, but this damn curse had finally exhausted her. Reagan hated to admit it, but she was getting to the point where she might concede defeat. Maybe it was just the wine talking. Reagan took another drink and settled back, closing her eyes as she waited for Caius.
Caius opened the door to the liquor cabinet and took a swig from his good bottle of scotch before he went to pour himself a glass of red wine as well. He was driving so he didn’t want to overdo it, but he did feel like he was going to need more than a few stiff drinks to get through this evening. It wasn’t just because of tension with Zania, it was the stress of thinking that everybody knew something was wrong with Reagan. He couldn’t bear much of the burden for her, but Reagan was the one person in the world who Caius empathized with the most, so he felt stressed on her behalf. As he walked back into the living room with his wine, he was tempted again to suggest they skip it. But maybe the distraction would be good for both of them. Caius settled next to his wife with a sigh, putting an arm around her on the back of the couch and lifting his glass to his lips. “Are we supposed to bring wine or anything?”
Reagan opened her eyes when Caius sat and she felt somewhat comforted by his closeness. His question prompted a faint smirk from Reagan before she took another drink of wine. "Probably," she said after licking her bottom lip. "I mean, that's the polite thing to do when you're invited to a party, isn't it? Bring something for the hostess. I suppose I could bring her rat bones from my work room, but she might appreciate the wine more." She hadn't stepped foot in her work room in a while, unable to bring herself to go anywhere near the door. Reagan wasn't sure she could stand stepping inside and not feeling the undercurrent of magic that always greeted her. That might prove to be too much. Being unable to reach out and touch Caius's magic when they were being intimate was bad enough. "I have a few bottles I could spare, though I suppose Zania might appreciate a bottle of your scotch more. She strikes me as someone who enjoys hard liquor."
It was the polite thing to do, but since when had the Castells cared about decorum and ceremony? Caius could feel his mother tut-tutting at him in his head for even thinking the thought, but honestly. “She’s not getting any of my good scotch,” he muttered sourly, lifting his glass again. “But I’ll find something.” Maybe it was petty, but Caius wasn’t inclined to give his expensive bottles away to people who didn’t treat him with respect. Whatever Zania’s problem with him was, she hadn’t addressed it directly, and that was a lack of respect to him. They were supposed to have been friends, and instead of talking, she just seemed to want to have a shitty attitude whenever they saw each other. He didn’t have time for that high school nonsense. “I have some unopened amaretto in the cabinet, I believe. Not cheap enough to be tacky, but more in line with what she deserves.”
Reagan grinned against her glass, having expected that kind of response from Caius. He was polite when he needed to be, but she liked that he had his own spark of fire inside of him. Some people found him pretentious and rude and it was probably a bit twisted of her to find those particular character traits attractive. She found everything about Caius attractive. That was something that had never changed. "Amaretto sounds fine," Reagan said, finishing off her wine quickly and unceremoniously and leaning forward to set the glass down sharply on the coffee table. Her head was swimming a bit, which meant she was at that perfect line to attend Zania's party and maybe enjoy herself. Nic would be there, so that helped. "Do you get the feeling that we'll be walking into a circus?" she asked Caius. "I guarantee you there won't be anyone there we would talk to under any other circumstances." Maybe Rost would be there. Reagan knew he and Zania were friendly, although she wasn't too sure how charitable he would be toward Reagan these days.
There was a reason the two of them had been inseparable since high school. More than one, of course, but they had a similar outlook on what they deserved from the world. It had been trained into them by their families and magical parents, and drove a lot of their ambition. Caius knew deep down in his soul that he and Reagan were superior to many people, some other witches included. Manners were important, but he had to manage his life and attitude accordingly. He chuckled at Reagan’s question and took a deeper drink of wine, since he was behind her now. “I always expect that house to be a circus, it just gets worse around the holidays,” he said. Okay that one was pretty bitchy of him. Caius knocked back the rest of his glass and set it down next to Reagan’s. “If nothing else, it should be amusing for a few hours. Then we can leave whenever you want, okay?”
A circus wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Reagan thought Zania and Nic's house was quite unusual, and it fit them perfectly. But she also knew she didn't belong there. She couldn't speak for Caius. Who knew how often he spent time there when they were apart. Reagan opted not to think too deeply about that. That was in the past and it needed to stay there. Feeling a bit rejuvenated thanks to the wine, Reagan nodded and gave him a smile. "I can do a few hours. And then I want to come home and take your clothes off." They could be festive in their own way and with much more privacy. Reagan moved to stand, thankful she was still pretty balanced. "I'm going to go get my shoes on. Can you drive?"
If Caius had belonged there at one time, he didn’t anymore. He and Zania had stopped seeing each other before she and Nic lived alone anyway, so maybe he’d never belonged there, even as a friend. But whatever, he didn’t have the time or inclination to be maudlin about it. Caius quirked a smile at Reagan a ther suggestion on what they should do when they got back, and again squashed the urge to suggest they just skip the party completely. “Absolutely I can,” he answered. Still sitting, Caius reached for her before she could get very far away, pulling her in closer by her hips until he could nuzzle his cheek against her stomach. Caius wrapped his arms around Reagan’s legs and just held on for a moment. He couldn’t feel the magic thrumming through her body anymore, heating his own up like the air above a fire, but he still loved to hold her. “I love you,” he murmured.
Reagan didn't hesitate to move toward him when he wrapped his arms around her. Her hands slid into his dark hair and she held onto the thick strands gently. "I love you too," she said, letting one hand slide down until she could brush her thumb along his cheek. Losing her magic hadn't changed that at all. Maybe something was missing, but it didn't dull the passion she still felt for him. And Reagan didn't want to ask him what would happen if she never got her magic back. Caius deserved someone who was his equal, and Reagan was doubting that she could ever be that without the fire burning inside of her. She took a deep breath and focused on how good he felt holding her. Reagan said nothing for a few moments, just enjoying the sensation of her hand in his hair, and his arms wrapped around her legs. "We should go," she murmured. "So we can get back."
Caius loved Reagan’s fingers in his hair more than most other things in the world, and he melted a bit inside as she petted him. It always soothed the static in his mind, if only for a little while, but a small relief was still relief. He just soaked it up until Reagan spoke, then nodded a bit against her. He turned his head to kiss her lower belly, giving her legs a squeeze and cupping her ass for a brief moment before he let go and sat back. “I’ll grab the amaretto and get the car warmed up for us,” he murmured, tilting her a little smile. It wouldn’t take Reagan long to put on shoes, but Caius could warm up the interior of a car far faster than the engine could.
Reagan would have gladly stood there for the rest of the night running her hands through his hair. Touching Caius was one of her favorite things to do. Anytime he was near it felt like her hands were drawn to his body. But they had made a commitment and Reagan knew getting out of the house would maybe help her mood. She moved out of the way when Caius stood and she pressed a kiss to his chin before turning away to head for the closet where she kept her shoes. A night spent at the Castells with... other people she probably wouldn’t know. Or maybe she would. Maybe they would have fun. Maybe Zania and Caius could bury whatever issue was lingering between them. Maybe she could get drunk and let go and forget everything. Tis the season and all that.
Reagan dug around in the closet for a few moments before she settled on black flats. Her feet might end up cold but at least she would look cute. She pulled her coat on and took a deep breath before heading out to meet Caius in the car. “Okay, let’s do this,” she said with renewed confidence. “We’re going to have fun. And if we get bored, we’ll make some fun ourselves.”